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Almighty computer matters - not MT or quality

Posted By: starting VR this week on 2009-08-23
In Reply to: Anybody else been through this? - Staying Anonymous

My primary is going to VR this week.  Here are my instructions:


We don't care about BOS rules any more.  It will only confuse the computer.  If the doc starts a sentence with a number, its OK now.  Verbatim, verbatim, verbatim.


We don't care about demographics any more.  That's the price the hospital pays for switching to VR.  I'm no longer paid to be concerned about HIPAA violations, and my ability to do so has just been removed.


We don't care about cleaning up the sentences any more, so we won't worry about tense agreement, pleural agreement, a vs an, etc.  My job now is to train the computer to make me obsolete.  My only interest should be to make sure the computer typed exactly what the doc said.  EXACTLY - if he said there is multiple lesions, that's what the corrected report needs to say.  If I change is to are, the poor computer will get confused, and its what matters.


See, before they were paying me to fix the garbled mess they dictated, and know what they meant and make it so.  Now they're paying me less to train their computer.  The computer is all that matters here.  Not what's right and wrong IMO.


OK, I'm not an MT any more.  I'm a computer trainer, and so are the docs that prefer it over me.  Everyone agrees I'm worth less pay in this capacity.  The docs will be directly in charge of fixing their own mistakes (yeah, provided they even NOTICE them).  I may, out of the kindness of my heart, put a note on a report with a glaring doctor error, but its not required or expected of me any more, and I'm certainly not being paid to fix it and in fact must now train myself not to do so, for the sake of the computer's learning curve.


I think I understand.  Garbage in, garbage out.  My job is simply to make sure the computer PERFECTLY understands the garbage coming in, and when it does, I will have no job any more.  I can simply trust that the docs (who are smart, important college graduates) won't speak any more errors, and not concern myself if they do, as I have relinquished my MT status and MT pay for the glory of making less money to help a machine hasten my obsolesence.  Ain't progress great?




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and that almighty TAT will keep them in business (and us)
nm
Why would you want to "BLACK LIST" any MT. Are you that almighty?!!
That comment, I have to say, makes me sick! You will get what is coming to you eventually!
The people with the loyalty to the almighty dollar...
.
They offshore, sound quality not great, quality
of work coming back from India is bad and they don't pay enough for editing it. 
you spelled quality qualitily maybe that is why you have quality issues.
Sorry, but even spell check misses stuff. You have to at least be able to spell to do this job. Well, you don't have to know English if you are Indian, but us Americans have to spell!
I wanted to use my own computer and get rid of the RENT on TT computer, but Vista is not compatible.
Good way to make them money.  Not have to upgrade software so that Vista is compatible with Vista.  Huh?
No not that it matters
But the QT tech office with the office help is off Race Track Road, have been there personally, the address on the checks on East Lake is a small office complex, someone else from QT told me it is the office of the accountant.
It's not the cpl that matters (sm);
it's what you can make per hour. I'd rather work on an account at 8 cpl where I'm paid for everything and easily do 350-400 lph than be given 9.5 cpl but struggle do to 150 lph.

Unfortunately, there's no quick way to judge an account's productivity. One has to work at it for a couple weeks.

Good way to judge account: what is average lines/min dictation? 10+ is decent.
It's HOW they tell you that matters,
but to be fair, QA in general is often a mismanaged part of the picture...

It's not enough to just to HAVE a QA department, you have to make it work WITH the MTs in cyberspace - Team effort versus playing the GOTCHA! game.


I don't know if this matters or not
(probably it does) but the recruiter who helped me also works as an MT for the company.  She was able to provide lots of details that most recruiters can't and she had a true understanding of my situation and my needs.  We talked for quite a while and I felt like she was being straight with me. 
Like anything else, it's the fit that matters
Just like people, some relationships work and some don't. It's called choice.
Only experience matters....
and even though I was impressed with the Atlanta office it was really Florida that I was interested in.

I don't think I said sex/love had anything to do with anything. So I'm laughing at your response. I'm just dissappointed at the financial picture and it doesn't look good. High turnover in the corporate office is not a good sign.

Forgive me if I implied anything, a mind has the freedom to wander, I don't know why Tara said that, maybe she had an off morning? Maybe his personality was cute? I don't really know why the comment, but it is funny and odd. Not what I was expecting either.
They are the best company for ME and that is all that matters. sm
I love the account I am on and make the amount that I need to make and want to make. I know my check is correct and it is in my bank when it is supposed to be. I am treated with respect and have a good rapport with my lead. I know that I am fortunate, especially as the other companies I worked at prior to Keystrokes were missing at least one of those important ingredients for me.

I have found that they are the best out there, but that is my opinion.

What I hate about these boards is that those who have bad things to say act as though those of us with good things to say are recruiters or managers or crazy or lying. What gives them the right to say that they are right, and I am wrong? We may just have had different experiences. The ones that bother me the most are the people who jump all over you when they have never worked at the place they are working. I contacted three nay-sayers when I was interviewing with Keystrokes two years ago, and ALL OF THEM told me that they had never actually worked there. UGH.
Of course the recruiter matters

They are your first impression of the company.  If the recruiter is not honest, it is very likely the rest of the company will be the same. 


I personally interviewed with them in the past and the recruiter was very shady.  I asked her if I would be paid for templates and she stated she didn't know what I was talking about.  I asked her if she could find out for me, but I never did get a straight answer.  I received an offer, which I declined.  An MT friend of mine decided to accept an offer with them right around the same time and she ended up leaving within a few weeks.  She said the recruiter made promises which the company did not keep.  She was promised a certain report type and would receive 8 or 9 reports in 1 day...definitely not enough to keep anyone busy.  Anyway, I am glad I turned them down.  I knew right away by the recruiter's attitude that it wouldn't work for me, and my friend confirmed that with her experience.


I don't think it really matters! Too twisted at
nm
I think you have to use their equipment, if that matters at all. I prefer my own. nm
m
There are clicks. Too many companies on the net that it matters though. nm
nm
Think they are an Indian run company if that matters to you.
a
Any info about Transcription Matters?
nm
not that it matters, but I'm thinking maybe it wasn't
a reputable site.  I've never seen catastrophe spelled with a y.  I could be wrong, but we all know you have to be careful when it comes to these sites, and I don't think there are 2 spellings.
Just did a mapquest and JLG is off Race Track Rd, not that is matters, but.... nt
 
One more computer question. I got my computer today and
trying to set it up.  Man unpacking the box and setting everything up is a major undertaking; more so for me because I used a laptop before and my desk isn't tower friendly.   Anyway, no info came with the tower and I don't yet have the password to get in (paperwork says to call M-F).  Is the tower WiFi compatible?   My DSL is hooked to a different computer and I wanted to know if I can setup new computer as WiFi or if I need to move modem to new computer and set other computer up as WiFi. 
Very heavy Indian affilitation and tech support, if that matters to ya. nm
s
Font size matters for gross line, so do margins
less lines because more fits on a line. First person asked how a gross line compares to 65 chars. If it's 12 font with 1 margins, it's about 1-1/2 to 2x 65 char line count, i.e., 7 cents per gross line would be around 8.5 to 9 cents per 65 char.
They told us in the Monday Morning Matters, they are already starting to train people...nm
.
Quality is quality, and really should have nothing to do with getting new accounts.
MQ isn't scheming against the MTs regarding QA. They just want a quality finished product.  Heck, half the slams on this board about MQ are the garbage work the MTs put out.  Talk about a no win situation! Getting used to a new account should not lower your quality by any real degree if you are a good MT.  Even getting used to new dictators or ESLs. Good MTs still produce quality work, and should not have to fret over QA. 
It matters more on the company than the method. Go with a company that does a lot of sm
radiology or it won't matter because you won't have a big check no matter what. Ask them how many radiology accounts they have, if they are overflow or complete department, how long they have had them and do you get a back-up account.

There are very few out there that have good radiology accounts. Stick with the ones that do. I am with Keystrokes for that reason after going with 4 others that kept running out of work.

In his ad, he's asking for Word Perfect, not Word, if that matters. nm
s
Of course quality is quality sm
but all this bouncing has slowed me down so much that I cannot make a good wage. I would never cut corners, but I can see where work quality will suffer in this scenario. I am sick and tired of bouncing around to all kinds of accounts!
quality
They give you a 60-day probation and pay you a guaranteed rate of $10 an hour to give you the chance to learn your account, the preferences, and get your speed up. They are sticklers on grammar, AAMT BOS rules, etc. They mentor you to the degree they have time, then if it is just not a good fit, they let you go. It is acute care. Some people have learned some very bad habits working for small companies on clinic notes, etc., and it's hard to re-learn the correct way of doing things. I think the company is very fair and almost everyone is very family-oriented and willing to help each other out. In the end, they have a company to run and do look for the cream of the crop or at least people who learn quickly enough and don't keep making the same mistakes over and over. The only other thing I could guess is it was just a personality conflict, degree of professionalism, or something. The company has approximately 400 MTs working from home, some who have been there for 10+ years, so they are doing something right!
Quality
Also was outsourced and work went to CBay. Our facility had to bring most of it back in house after less than 3 months. What I don't get is how they continue to get positive press without anyone telling the other side of the story. For our facility it was a disaster. The same old story, they got what they paid for and in the end it cost them a bundle.
Don't you want quality?
$14/hour is just not enough to live comfortably these days, in my opinion.  It's esp. not enough for a hardworking transcriptionist/editor like me.  If you truly want quality editors, compensate them according to current standard-of-living - I'd say at least $20/hr.
Nothing to do with quality.

 


This had nothing to do with quality or job performance...it was simply a way to move out those QAs hired at a rate they currently no longer want to pay and fill those slots with those who will work for a wage that is barely livable, forgetting that they ultimately will get what they pay for..  This is happening a lot these days and I believe it will come back to haunt them, but for now it seems to me that is what is happening. 


I think it was probably due to quality.
x
Quality?
Yeah --- the company I work for cares a lot about qualit; but they care more about the bottom line. To solve both problems, they strip off all of the easiest work to send to vendors, sticking the the Americans with worst of the worst; they try to make us feel good about this by telling us that we should feel honored and it is a privilege for them to trust us with the crap work that cuts our income in half. And it is not necessity, we are frequently out of work; but they saved money by screwing us over in order to pay less to the foreigners.

Some of these companies just always have an angle.
Quality???
None of us were born with good qualities, but we deleveop it through education and experience! Quality can be achieved by hardwork.

Perhaps, if the output was that bad, as you feel, then companies like nuance, spheris, spi would not have opened their branches in our country.


quality
It's very sad, but in today's world, everything is about the almighty dollar. We don't get paid 1/100th of what we're worth to the hospitals and the docs. Without us, they'd be a really big world of hurt. In fact, aside from having our hands directly on the patient's, we may as well be physicians... we have to know everything they know just to transcribe a report. That just frosts my cookies. How about yours? Don't get me wrong.. I love, love, love what I do, but just want to know for a moment that we are appreciated for bringing in the majority of ALL the revenue in the medical field. As I have said many times before on this post, I have 25+ years experience and still make starting pay of .0825 cents a line. That, to me, stinks. Having owned my own business, I know what the MTSOs charge the hospitals. We are being ripped off royally every day.
you get what you pay for and quality
Yes, it frosts my cookies!!  Remember the days when MTs didn't just THINK they were prima donnas, they WERE prima donnas?  We've gone from prima donnas to typing monkeys.  It isn't just MTs.  I posted above about the nurses who were demonstrating outside the local hospital because they had been fired to make way for new graduate nurses who would work for lower wages? They weren't old hags either, most appeared to be between mid 30s and mid 40s.  It isn't just  MTs, it's all workers in every field.  Employers don't want experience, they want cheap!  Not getting into politics here but no matter which candidates are elected in November, it is only going to get worse.  News flash:  There is no change going to Washington D.C.  Well, maybe worse change.  Nothing will change until the American people wake up and say ENOUGH. 
How is the quality for the MTs. I am not sure about getting a job with them. I
would appreciate if you would elaborate a little further if you wouldnt mind.  I was just also wondering if the accounts are loaded with ESLs.
The quality is not here, either...
When was the last time you looked at the American MTs' final document?  Many times, it is not a pretty picture.  Just ask on this site alone how many MTs proofread all of their work before sending to the client?
Quality and VR
I would love to know where you work.  It would be great to find a company that was not quite so particular with VR.  I have only been doing VR for a short while, but QA catches everything, word-for-word.  Cannot leave out a single a, an, or the, or for that matter put one in that is not there.  There is so much to correct, I cannot even make line count that matched my norm on regular transcription most of the time.
Quality
Who said my quality had anything to do with Dorothy's decision to sell her company? Do you think Transcend would have offered to buy her company if the hospitals had said the quality they received from MDI was poor?

Honestly, you could have a little more compassion for those people whose lives and livelihood just changed. Your comments were rude and out of line.
OSI's quality supervisor probably can't
I also suspect that she's been posting all kinds of crap on this board because that's the kind of lunatic she is.
But isn't quality a noun
I just noticed this post because I always have to debate with myself on this . I thought if it was a noun, then hyphen between.
If you do NOT care about quality then OSi will
Their motto is just get it out I couldn't deal with that attitude with medical records so went with a company where quality does count and comes first!

Was once OSi QA!
THIS quality MT did NOT stay there!
I am going to start for 2 others shortly after the holidays, which gives me a little time for my family during the holiday season. When I did work for them, I did have a BIG notion to hand in one day's work with NO SPACES, just to see what they would do!
Sound quality
The sound is great. That has been resolved and it was not the system but the phone lines from the facilities. No need for technical support, but I have never had any problems reaching someone and had an immediate response.
Quality not QUANTITY is......

WAY WAY MORE IMPORTANT.  Yes we have to be able to type (I hate the use of that word).  We must be able to transcribe the dictation.  BUT, we must also know WHAT we are transcribing and if we are using the correct terms and what those terms mean (again so we can make sure that we are putting out accurate work).  Yes, we have reference books (or we better at least).  However, some things just have to be committed (? sp - it is late )  to memory.  People like you bring the industry down.... unfortunately without realizing it.  I really do wish you the best, but please give some thought into not bashing the company for a harsh test and give more thought into spending the time actually learning medical terminology.  Also remember, there is the Word Board here for questions!!


 


QA is quality assurance
QA is Quality Assurance of an MTs work, it could be an editor. Editor is also commonly used in the VR (voice recognition) editing, as they do not transcribe standardly, they edit.
Control and quality
You know, MTs can't have it both ways. On one hand, we seem to want recognition that what we does can impact patient care and thus is very important. On the other hand, we don't want to be held accountable for the errors we make. When a patient's chart has a major error in it, that can impact patient care. And unfortunately sometimes the only way to get people to wake up and pay attention is by  penalizing them for those errors and for going so fast they simply are not paying attention. I've never had a deduction for those kind of things so perhaps can't really speak to it, but the way I understand that policy it seems to be quite fair to me.
Anyone else having quality issues because of too
I'm a long-time MT and I pride myself on my high QA, but in the last couple of months I've made several serious errors.  I can't believe how sloppy I was.  I know a good part of it is because I'm so tired and distracted constantly about not having enough work at TWO services.  I have 9 accounts between my 2 jobs, and it's also very hard to keep up with all the different account specs.  (FWIW, all three errors were made at one of the services.)  Before this, I had received one call about QA in seven years, and now I've received three in two months.  I feel like the worst MT in the world .